‘King’ James powers Cavs
Washington, Nov. 6: LeBron James scored 25 points on Saturday, passing Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th on the NBA all-time scoring list, as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten by defeating Philadelphia 102-101.
James also added eight rebounds and 14 assists, the last on Channing Frye’s 3-pointer to create the final margin with 65 seconds remaining.
The Philadelphia 76ers, winless at 0-5, turned the ball over three times in the final minute to ensure a victory by the Cavaliers, now 6-0.
Kevin Love added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers while Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 22 points.
Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James scored on a fast-break layup with 6:02 remaining in the first quarter against the host 76ers to move one point ahead of Olajuwon’s career total of 26,946 points.
“King” James took only 993 career games over 14 seasons to surpass Hakeem “The Dream,” who needed 1,238 games over 18 campaigns to achieve his total.
“It means I’ve played with a lot of great teammates that have allowed me and entrusted me to do what I do out on the floor. That’s the number one thing,” James said. “Also it’s a testament to me just taking care of my body and working on my craft throughout my career.
James worked out with former Houston Rockets center Olajuwon in 2011.
The next target on the NBA all-time scoring list is Elvin Hayes with 27,313 points.
Of the top 10, only James, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan were players that weren’t centers or power forwards with dominating inside games.
James wants the team to improve, even if they are unbeaten and off to their best start since opening 8-0 in 1976. Indiana thumped visiting Milwaukee 125-107 despite Pacers star Paul George, who had 13 points, being ejected with 1:42 to play in the third quarter after receiving a technical foul for kicking the ball into the stands. It hit a fan to whom George apologized.
“I am grateful that my ejection didn’t cost us a loss,” George said. “I am sure I will be fined. The one thing I really liked about tonight was that we were aggressive on both ends of the floor.”
Russell Westbrook scored 28 points and added eight assists, six rebounds and three steals for Oklahoma City in a 112-92 rout of visiting Minnesota. Enes Kanter came off the Thunder bench to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds, while New Zealand’s Steven Adams added 14 points and eight rebounds.
In other games, Andre Drummond had 19 points and 20 rebounds to lead Detroit over Denver 10386, while reserve guard Jeff Green scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to power Orlando over visiting Washington 88-86.